[CHassan]

New car means new rack. OK not always as sometimes you can take a rack and move it to the new vehicle, but my PVC on the hood wasn't going to happen on this one.
I started with looking around at racks and seeing what others have done. Ended up wanting to go with a local's set up. Easy and simple, but sturdy. So I fired up Google Sketchup and went to work. Soon I had a simple rack, but then I added more, and more, and more, until it looked like the start of the Eiffel Tower.

I don't weld, so I took my material to a couple guys who have both built their Highlanders and both won Grand Champion at Oshkosh for their efforts.

SO we ended up going with their idea, that was close to my original, but with a different attachment. They also didn't like my thinner wall metal so we dug the scrap pile and found heavier wall stuff.

We drilled some holes in 2" angle iron to bolt to the bumper. A 1 1/4" sqr tube would be the receiver for the rack. (All that x2)


We cut a hole in the plastic grill, just big enough to let the receiver poke out. It stuck out just far enough to drill and pin the whole thing. (You might notice I went fancy with the paint. Used black metallic that almost comes close to matching my car's paint, and you might be able to tell that if the car was remotely clean.)


The rack is a pretty simple goal post, with a 2" angle iron top surface. I know it will support 210lbs bouncing on the lower cross member. It has almost no lateral sway, and just a hint of for and aft play. One well crafted piece of hardware there!


All I need to do now if figure out how I'm going to pad them. I'm thinking about custom forming my own foam moldings. One reason is my car's factory racks slope rearward, so I had to make shift a riser for the back. (used part of my old suction cup roof rack) If I can form my own one pieces molded padding, then I can do away with this contraption. (that looks better in this photo than in real life.)




I ended up spending about $30 on material, and now have a rather large outstanding favor for the labor. I'm thinking if I can get the molding foam thing down I might be able to repay some of that in Highlander comfort products.

[knumbknuts]

Nice,

I am looking into an econowagon of some sort. I spent $10K on gas last year. I'll be Borging this.

Thanks for posting

JW

[flybop]

Nice rack. Like you I am doing away with my suction cup/pvc contraption. I drop my Jeep off tomorrow to get the rack. The local welder has made racks for a couple other pilots, so he knows what I am looking for.

It will be nice to show up with a rig that can carry more than two wings safely to launch. I'll post some pics when I have the rack installed.

Also, one thing that I want to do better with this new rack, and my factory roof racks, is the padding.

[NMERider]

Great job Craig!

[CHassan]

[flybop]

Keep me posted Craig. My old pool noodles worked, but they looked a little Jed Clampet.

[slimchance]

[Skyhighwoman]

I will be looking to rack my ride.

The last time I used 3/4 inch closed foam and it worked great. I bought it at a place where they sell foam in the bay area. Last a long time 10yrs on the current truck. Taped thick black tape. It could use some new tape.

Now I bought a new to me truck. So now i have to pad and cover this rack. This time beside padding I will cover with marine vinyl to make it last and it looks good.


Just wondering if the pool noodles hold up if you cover them. Or do they wear out in time?




Carm

[slimchance]

[flybop]

Thanks Slim. The tape option was one way I was considering. Now that it was mentioned, I did see a nice looking rack last year that had the marine vinyl covering the foam.

[wmstroud]

One of the absolute best rack padding material I have found (I have a fragile rigid) is water ski belt material. You remember the old ski belts your Mom and Dad use to use. They are about 7 inches wide, made of foam, and coated in flexable rubber. They are still available as new. These are mounted on synthetic deck boards for a wide surface area. Absolutely the gentlest ride your glider can have. Mine are now 3 years old and show no sign of deteriation.

[CHassan]

So I changed my "padding plans" about 2 dozen times. Finally settled on expanding foam skinned in marine vinyl. Making 2 sets of pads, each 1/2 the length of the crossbars. The front rack will be a single piece molded across the full length.

I ended up not doing the air foiled route since I skinned the foam. It would have been that much harder and my sewing skill are minimal.

Sewed up the vinyl into a rectangle. I left the bottom where the pad will sit on the rack open for the foam. placed it into my mold and mixed up the foam. Once the foam was poured I clamped a lid on the box and let it grow.
About 20 minutes later I pulled it off, trimmed it up, and sewed on the zipper.

Fits like a glove, but I may switch to velcro instead of the zipper. The back pad is easy to install, but the front pad and the lower crossbar is a bit of a pain.

Spent $60 in the foam, and $20 on the vinyl. I bought 2 yards as I planned on needing extra for the normal re-do's.

Because I did the first pad when it was cool out, the foam didn't expand much. That pad is fairly hard and took 2 castings since it left a pretty big void in the mold.
The bigger pad I preheated the mold with my heat gun, plus it was warmer out. The pad is about "perfect" in softness and rigidity and filled nicely with one cast.

I need more foam, but I think I will try the hobby stores $20 mix. It is a lighter foam, but I think it should do with some back pressure in the mold.

[bentupright]

Good job!
The ski belt idea is a great tip too. Thank you.
Searches turn up this vendor:

http://www.kidstoychest.com/tex/water-ski-belts.htm